Pastoral Care
In order to address the problem of how to give pastoral care to such a large congregation as well as provide a means for new people to become a part of the church, HTB uses the Pastorate model. Pastorates consist of 20-50 people who, through meeting at least once a fortnight, can form strong friendships and support each other in care as well as developing individual gifts and ministries.
HTB has quite a transient congregation caused in part by its location in London, a city which itself has quite a transient population, that HTB attracts a large student population often only resident in London during their studies, and that the Alpha course brings in a number of people who are either visiting the home of Alpha or have completed the course and then quickly move on to other churches or ministries. In order to reach out to this substantial number of visitors, HTB is somewhat extroverted in welcoming newcomers and providing various means for them to get involved.
Read more about this topic: Holy Trinity Brompton
Famous quotes containing the words pastoral and/or care:
“Et in Arcadia ego.
[I too am in Arcadia.]”
—Anonymous, Anonymous.
Tomb inscription, appearing in classical paintings by Guercino and Poussin, among others. The words probably mean that even the most ideal earthly lives are mortal. Arcadia, a mountainous region in the central Peloponnese, Greece, was the rustic abode of Pan, depicted in literature and art as a land of innocence and ease, and was the title of Sir Philip Sidney’s pastoral romance (1590)
“Part of the pain in leaving our children to go to work is that we miss them, wish we could be with them. We also hate to turn them over to someone who is not identical to us, who will do things, at best, differently—at worst, in ways we don’t believe are good for children. We are up against this whenever we share the care of our children with others—even grandparents or trusted and loved ones.”
—Joan Sheingold Ditzion (20th century)